Sunday, 5 April 2009

Chocolate banana cake

I’m a bit like the Ancient Mariner at the moment. In the epic poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” the mariner, who is ancient – hence the title, roams the land looking for people to tell his albatross-killing story to, whether they want to hear it or not. Now let me just state that I haven’t killed an albatross but I do seem to be telling everyone how great banana toffos were. Banana toffos were only available in the tube of assorted toffos so, at best, a rare commodity. They seem to have slipped from history to the extent that if you google “banana toffos” one of the first hits is my previous banana cake.

When my thoughts turn to mourning the demise of banana toffos I know it’s time to make a banana cake. This one caught my eye as it also features chocolate and hazelnuts. It does have a very strong banana taste so is one for the banana fans; a couple of my eatership found it overpowering whereas I really liked the rich banana flavour.

Any cake with banana in it will be moist but this one also contains yoghurt so is extra moist and spongy! The additions of chocolate and nuts gives an extra layer of flavour and texture. It’s a highly comforting cake.

One thing I would advise; this is a simple cake but it requires several bowls. I found it best to weigh out all the cake ingredients into their separate bowls so they were to hand as needed. I used one bowl for the flour and bicarbonate of soda, one bowl for the yoghurt, and one bowl for the mashed banana. It’s a bit more washing up but makes life easier.

How to make:- Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.- Line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper.- Start by making the chocolate mixture: chop the chocolate into small pieces.- Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix. Put to one side.- Now make the cake: beat together the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy.- Weigh out all the other ingredients. In one bowl put the flour and bicarbonate of soda, in another bowl measure out the yoghurt, and in a third bowl mash the banana.- Beat the vanilla into the creamed butter mixture.- Beat in the eggs one at a time.- Beat in the banana and the yoghurt. The mix will curdle at this point.- Gently beat in the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Don’t overbeat, it’s better to finish it off with a spoon that overbeat.- Spoon half of the cake mix into the tin and level.- Scatter a generous half of the chocolate mixture over the batter.- Spoon the remaining cake mix into the tin and level.- Scatter the remaining chocolate mixture over the batter.- Bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. Mine took 37 minutes.- Leave to cool in the tin for approximately 20 minutes before turning out and letting cool completely on a wire rack.- When the cake is cool make the topping: gently melt the chocolate and cream in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure that the bowl does not touch the water.- Stir the chocolate and cream to ensure the mix is smooth.- Using a teaspoon, squiggle the chocolate over the top of the cake. If there is any left over it can be used with ice cream.- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.- Eat.

24 comments:

I was having trouble sleeping, last night. I decided to GOOGLE for recipes to use ripe bananas-- I am tired of banana bread! I went to bed, discouraged. Now, you have posted this wonderful idea! Chocolate and bananas are wonderful, and I happen to have hazlenuts. I'll have to convert your metric amounts to "Americanese", but I shall give this a try. Looks delish.

Oh you poor city professional... why is it that we all seek the joys of baking to escape our financially driven lives? That second picture looks particularly delectable. I think it's the voluptuously oozy nature of the chocolate drizzle. Mmm...

Love this cake! You're right, bananas and chocolate are a great combo! I imagine they go really well with nuts too. Love the way you've created a layer in it, and the chocolate on the top looks fab too.

Made this cake last week. Changed hazelnuts with walnuts. The taste is amazing. It is easy to make, moist and very very tasteful cake. It will be one on my regular list ;) This blog is amazing and looking forward to explore many new cakes.

Read my novel! Yes! I wrote it!

Look at this great website

Follow my ambitious attempt to find a recipe for a cake, biscuit, pie or tart for every single one of the 39 traditional English counties!

The Caked Crusader and Boy Wonder

Cartoon by Cakeyboi

About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

By the way, I will never recommend how many portions you should get out of a cake because we’re all different. Plus, it will be very embarrassing when I say it serves 4 and you get 20 portions out of it.

WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

Privacy notice

The Caked Crusader blog does not share personal information with third-parties, nor does it store or use information collected about your visit to the site other than to analyse content performance. I am not responsible for the republishing of the blog’s content on other websites or media without my permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice.

Cake Achievement in Film and Television Arts (CAFTA)

Have you seen a cake in a film or tv show that deserves recognition? Has a cupcake upstaged a beefcake?

If so, please let me know and that cake could win a coveted CAFTA award. Email me your suggestions, with a photo of the cake if possible.

About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.